Better than Normal
by udyrmid
Summary: Sometimes I wish my life was better, more interesting and exciting. But no. Instead, I wake up in the Mass Effect universe and have to help Commander Shepard. Well, I suppose it's better than normal.
1. Best Dream I've Ever Had

I woke up, with a headache that would make even Tim Cridland want to stay in bed. Pretending to sleep was not an option for me, as today was the first day of my university exams, and quite possibly the worst too. I don't know why they would start the exams this early; my professor only told me about this exam a few weeks ago. Yeah, that's good, a few weeks of studying is always enough. To be honest, I'm too tired right now to leave my house, let alone actually doing the exam.

I don't know what job I want to do yet. I know I'm going to have to go to finish university, my mum unrelenting in her attempt to give me a good chance in life. The army always seemed like a decent option afterwards, although I would have to really be in shape to do it. It would seem like a good way to save lives and be helpful to people, and I suppose there isn't much effort that goes into it.

I throw off the covers, grabbing one of my crumpled long-sleeve t-shirts off of the floor, trying to delay getting dressed as long as possible. Ignoring the pain is difficult, and I want to just go back to sleep so badly, but I know I can't. I hate my university, and even though a lot of kids say that and don't mean it because they don't understand how lucky they are, mine really is terrible.

Even getting down the stairs is an endeavour, and as soon as I reach the bottom step, I notice that none of my parents are downstairs. My dad is probably still in bed, he doesn't get up until about 10am. I move into the kitchen and past the cupboards towards the fridge. As I get closer, a piece of paper taped to the front of it grabs my attention. I pull it off and start reading it.

**'**_**Dear Jack**_

_**I had to leave early today, going to the studio for the day. Told Russell about this and asked him to tell you, but I wrote this just in case you didn't know. I should be back in time for dinner tonight.**_

_**Love Mum**_

_**PS: Good luck with your exam!'**_

I guess it was a surprise for her, because I remember her telling me that she wouldn't be going today. There goes my chance of getting picked up after my exam. I've never liked getting picked up anyway, walking home gives me the chance of going to the shop on the way back. Could be considered a long walk, a few hours, but it's never seemed like too much trouble. I should have known that my dad would forget to tell me this; he has been forgetting a lot of stuff ever since he had his fifty-fifth birthday.

I crouch down to open the cereal cupboard door, and start rummaging around in there, not really caring what I get. It only takes me a few seconds to pick something out, and I stand up again. I put the box down onto the counter slightly heavier than intended, causing my headache to flare up again.

It's always a good time to have an exam, when I just want to die. I make my bowl of cereal and take it into the living room, if only to see the time on the clock.

I only have 20 minutes to go before I have to be at the university, to register before my exam. This only gives me 5 minutes to get dressed and finish my food, which I didn't realize.

I just decide to leave my food and go back upstairs, and let my dad take my cereal back into the kitchen when he decides to actually get up.

Getting dressed is painful, and not only because of my headache. Going into the bathroom, the need to sleep nearly overwhelms me. Closing the door, I stumble slightly. Holding my face close to the mirror, I only get a quick glance at my pale complexion. I didn't notice the large amount of water on the floor until both of my feet were suddenly thrown forward and my head smashed straight into the sink.

As if I could possibly feel any worse, now I have to worry about a serious head injury. My vision was starting to blur now, the taps in front of my face starting to blur together into one. Oh fuck. I struggled to hold onto the sink, trying not to fall onto the floor. Holding on for any longer than a few seconds is impossible, and my hands eventually slip off, causing my body to fall roughly to the tiled floor.

I didn't even notice how much pain I was in until now, now there is nothing distracting me. That fall didn't really help matters either, causing even more pain.

My knees were the worst affected, intense pain throbbing continuously, leaving me unable to move. The headache seemed to have increased tenfold, now being felt completely throughout my body. Everything had lost focus now, a bright light on the ceiling appearing only as a long line which was focusing on my eyes.

I turn my head when I hear the sound of a door being opened, my consciousness starting to fade. The only positive thing about this is that I will hopefully miss the exam today, I thought, as my dad comes in and notices me on the floor.

I could feel my eyes starting to close, the sound of my dad's shouts being the only thing stopping me from passing out.

It isn't enough.

* * *

My head is killing me. For some reason, I thought the immense feelings of pain would have gone by now, but sadly not. Fortunately, the rest of my body has stopped hurting now, so it's only the headache I have to deal with now.

I open my eyes, and find myself looking at the floor. It was a very bright surface, orange in colour, and I closed them again to try and avoid looking at the irritating sight.

Turning myself onto my back, I look at the sky. It was a very beautiful sight, albeit no clouds, and it was extremely red.

Wait, what? My bathroom ceiling definitely isn't red, and I definitely didn't fall down next to… an assault rifle. What the fuck happened?

I start looking around the area, and notice the camp that I am in. There are a few small buildings next to the cliff on the other side of the camp, a lot of cargo crates, and a few dead bodies scattered around. I get up quickly, thinking about what just happened. There is no way I just magically transported somewhere else when I just fell unconscious. This must be a dream, no way is this real.

Probably best to start moving, try and find out what this place is. I suppose it would be best to try and have a look around here first. I move around a few of the cargo crates, in an attempt to go and have a look at the bodies. When I do get a chance to look at them closely, this is the point where my video game training kicks in.

I can see how most people would probably be distressed at seeing them, but it doesn't affect me really. I stop next to the closest person, and stare at her for a second. Should I see what she has on her? Even though this is a dream, it doesn't seem right looting someone's corpse. It feels even worse because it is a woman. Still, what she has on her might be useful.

I crouch down next to her body, and turn her onto her back. My eyes widen when I see the massive bullet hole at the top of her Alliance uniform.

…

Alliance? The only time I've ever heard the word Alliance before is… oh.

Mass Effect.

This is the first time I've had a Mass Effect dream before, so this is something new.

Although, I have got no idea why I dreamed of being on Eden Prime. I mean, to be honest, the first Mass Effect game isn't that great. I know it set the foundation for the rest of the series, but to me, it was also the least polished out of the trilogy.

This might just be because I played the series backwards, starting with the third and ending with the first. Just resumed playing the first game again though, and I've only just got past Therum.

Oh, sorry, accidentally went off track a bit.

…

I scan her body, looking for anything I can use. I assume she is a scientist, judging that she doesn't have much on her. Seeing the small harness-looking device attached to her trousers, I pull that off recognizing it as a shield generator. She also carries a small pistol inside her right pocket, which I decide to just hold in my hands for the moment.

The omnitool on her wrist was taken off easily, but taking off her armour is a problem. Very surprising that it is a medium one, since I would expect most scientists too only use a light variant. I could do it roughly, but that would seem too aggressive. I decide to take my time doing it, trying not to touch any sensitive areas. Seems silly, since she is dead, but I can't escape the feeling that doing so would be wrong.

Now I've geared up the best that I can. Taking the time to look at the rest of the dead bodies gives no results, and I was hoping to find an assault rifle. Something like that, a weapon that would actually be useful in a combat scenario.

I was about to head off north towards another settlement I could see in the distance, until I suddenly remembered the rifle that was on the ground before. Hurrying back around the crates, I reach the spot where I woke up. I grab the rifle and replace the pistol, placing the small firearm back into my pocket.

Suddenly, I can hear a strange sound in the distance. It is starting to sound like it is getting louder, which intrigues me a bit.

Well, I might as well go and have a look what my mind has decided to invent for me. I hope it is going to be interesting.

* * *

Soon enough, I find myself in an area on top of a large cliff face, several feet above a canyon that would be terrible to fall into. Quite a lot of flat rocks lying around, which I assume is the cover used for the humans.

There is a dig site directly in front of me, which I remember as being the point where Ashley is saved by Shepard. As I was walking, the loud sound gradually disappeared. Now, there is only silence, and I'm not sure when this event is supposed to happen.

I suppose I could wait it out… or I could go and find Ashley myself. Well, I'm not going to wait around here forever. Jumping off the cliff face is slightly difficult, and I land awkwardly. The surface here is a lot harder than it was before, which catches me by surprise.

I'm holding my rifle rather loosely, pointing towards the floor. I can't remember the point when Ashley appears or who is chasing here, hoping that it wasn't more than a few geth. The sound appears again, and this time I can recognize it as gunfire. I lift my rifle and point it towards the noise, moving slowly to not be taken by surprise. I only manage to round the corner, and recognize Ashley running towards me.

"What are you doing?" I say, lowering my rifle. There isn't anything chasing her, and I don't want to shoot her. Even if this is a dream, I quite liked Ashley in the games. She seemed friendly enough and only acts tough because of her upbringing as a soldier.

Ashley is fast on the uptake, only seeing me a few seconds before she makes contact with me. She doesn't stop running though, and moves straight past me, grabbing my left arm to drag me along with her.

"What are you doing?" I repeat, realizing that now would be a good time to run instead of letting myself be dragged along.

"Can't talk! Geth chasing me!" she yells back, still holding firmly onto my arm. I look behind us just in time to see two geth drones zoom into view, firing rapidly at our location.

It only takes us a few seconds before we reach the cliff face from before, and Shepard hasn't appeared yet. Guess this means we have to get rid of these drones ourselves.

I feel Ashley's hold on my arm disappear, and look down in time to see her accidentally trip over a small rock misplaced on the ground. She falls down awkwardly, fumbling with her pistol, trying desperately to take it out of the holster.

Looking back at the geth drones, I see that they have caught up to us, and their aiming directly at Ashley.

Well fuck, I guess I need to help her out.

I aim my rifle again, pointing towards the drone on the left, and fire rapidly. The recoil isn't that bad, expected it to be a lot worse. Aiming for their head is very simple, and because they are only focusing on Ashley, it enables me to lock onto it effectively.

The geth I fired at is destroyed, and the second one turns its attention towards me. The trooper has focused completely on me, which leaves it completely open to Ashley. It only gets a chance to fire a few shots, before it is also destroyed by rapid and accurate gunfire from the Alliance soldier.

I stop for a second, breathing heavily. That was not what I expected; shooting is supposed to be a lot harder, especially in the first game. I suppose this dream was made specifically to be easy.

"Are you OK?" I said, looking at Ashley, hoping she's not injured. Silence hangs in the air uncomfortably, until I extend my hand to her. She turns to me, looking me up and down, as if noticing me for the first time.

"I'm fine" she replies, grabbing my hand, pulling herself to her feet. She starts dusting herself off, still looking interestedly at me.

A scream comes from the right of us, and I spin around wondering what the hell that was. Two geth troopers have just come into view, pulling a man with them. He is struggling as best he could, trying to lose their grip, but they aren't taking any notice. Very determined to drag him to the Dragon's teeth that were placed just further away from us.

Oh fuck. I remember this. Poor guy gets turned into one of those disgusting husk creatures. I need to do something, even though this is a dream, have to at least try and help him.

"Hey!" I shout, trying to get the geth's attention. If Ashley can help me out here, maybe we can stop them in time. As soon as I say anything, Ashley looks towards me, with eyebrows raised. She draws a hand across her throat, signalling me to be quiet. I don't care what she thinks, I shouldn't be quiet, and if I can help anyone I will. Anyway, there were only two geth troopers which we can handle, if she wants to help me.

"HEY! OVER HE-!" I start to shout again, but I get cut off when I suddenly feel myself get thrown behind a giant rock. My head is smashed against the jagged surface, and I slide down to the ground again, dropping my rifle. My head hangs tiredly, and now I'm starting to feel sick again. The headache starts showing its ugly face again, my vision beginning to blur. I can barely see the floor as it is, and trying to raise my head to look around anywhere else is making me feel even worse. I close my eyes, trying to resist the pain.

"Are you okay?" I hear Ashley say, feeling her shaking me. My eyes are closed, making me look like I'm not awake, so I guess she thinks that she threw me too hard. Soon enough, she stops and sighs. "Damn it".

I'm in way too much pain to even try to talk to her any more, and now I'm just listening to what's going on. The man has stopped screaming now, and I don't know what happening. There is another uncomfortable silence, and I can only assume that the guy has been turned into a husk.

I can't believe Ashley stopped me from helping him, and putting me behind cover made things worse if that's possible. Unless Shepard has appeared, she is going to fight those geth and the husk by herself. And why the fuck does this hurt so much? I only hit my head on a rock. It seems strange for my pain in real life to carry into a dream. Unless… this actually is real life? Fuck.

I look to my right, and see that Ashley has disappeared. I guess she's gone to go and fight the enemies, but I can't do that right now. Trying to stand up is too painful, and I don't want to make my headache any worse, so I have to just stagger across the ground on my knees. I need to see what's going on, because this silence has been hanging around too long for my liking. Moving slowly, I eventually reach the side of cover and peer out, trying to find Ashley. I see her instantly, talking to a woman and another man. The fight must have ended while I was sitting down, and I just didn't hear any of it.

The woman has to be Commander Shepard, along with Lt. Kaidan Alenko. My head is starting to lose sensation, and I realize that I am about to fall unconscious again. I would try and say something to them, but I don't think it would do any good. I can't even see Kaidan that well, as he is facing away from me, talking to Ashley.

Shepard, however, is looking straight at me.

**A/N:Hey guys, welcome to my first story. I wasn't sure how to approach this first of all, but eventually decided on just doing a self-insert. Writing from my POV would be easier than starting with any of the major characters. Plus, I know I would enjoy doing this more.**

**Hopefully, this story won't differ too much from canon (can't guarantee anything), but I might have to at some point, to take my story in the direction I would like it to go.**

**Also, I'm not sure if I want to include an explanation on why my character has suddenly appeared in this universe. I would like to keep it mysterious for now, but I would like to see the viewer's opinion on this matter.**

**A few really good stories I would like to mention before the next chapter: The Masses to Masses series by iNf3ctioNZ, and Massed Up by DelVarO are the best Mass Effect stories I have read so far. In particular, Massed Up was the one which made me want to attempt to write a story myself.**

**Not sure how often I can update this, probably every few days or so, but I can't make any promises. And finally, to end with a disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect or anything related to it. Mass Effect is owned by BioWare.**


	2. This Is Weird

Argh, fuck. I don't even remember what just happened. My headache hasn't gone away either, and now it's starting to piss me off. I mean, all I did was hit my head on a sink. This shouldn't be hurting so much, it wasn't like I got shot or anything.

My shoulders start moving back and forth, and I can feel someone shaking me gently.

"Hello? Sir, can you hear me?" a gentle voice said slowly.

Now it seems I'm back in real life, with a woman trying to get my attention. Knowing my dad, he probably assumed what happened to me was serious and took me to hospital. At least I hope he did, fucking paracetamol won't cure this headache.

"Oh my god… what happened?" I said, trying to lift my head up, but not succeeding. I groan heavily, trying to stretch my arms and legs a bit. The legs are giving a bit of leeway though not by much, and the arms seem to be impossible to move.

"You passed out here, after fighting those geth drones."

Ah yes, I remember that now. I didn't fight them by myself, because I did have some help from Ashley. Don't think I needed it, my shooting skills in that dream was sick, but it was nice to have. Seems strange, that someone in the hospital would know about what happened in my dream. And passed out "here"? Nah, that happened back in my house bathroom, not in a hospital room.

I open my eyes tentatively, trying not to hurt myself anymore. The first thing I notice is the arms holding onto my shoulders, which explained why I couldn't move them before. My eyes widen quickly, because I'm not on a hospital bed. Instead, I'm now with my back against the rock from before, which is weird because I thought I moved away from this.

"Are you OK?" the gentle voice says, showing concern for me I guess, because I haven't even looked at her yet.

I close my eyes, thinking for a second. No, I really don't think I'm OK. Can't understand why I'm still here. I mean, you don't pass out in a dream, but then come back to the dream again. That doesn't make any sense at all.

Unless this isn't a dream. This makes even less sense if that's possible. I didn't think you could magically transport about 170 years into the future within another reality. The Mass Effect universe realized how bad my life was and decided to have a laugh, and drag me along for the ride. Seems a bit stupid for it to happen today, there isn't anything special going on in the world today that I'm aware of. Maybe it was done especially because of my exam today? Can't believe a universe that contains space dinosaurs that use shotguns could be this kind to me.

At least I hope it's being kind to me. I know this isn't going to be like the games, not going to be the badass Commander Shepard, respected and feared by everyone. Dying here isn't going to be the same either, no "CRITICAL MISSION FAILURE" message and a chance to go through that part again. Instead, it is actual death, which to be honest I'm not looking forward to yet .Just being me isn't that great, and I don't really see how I am going to make a big effect on anything. Especially when I already know how this shit is going to go, placing me here isn't going to help. It could make things worse thinking about it, depending on whether or not I fuck up the canon.

And what would happen if I fuck up canon? Would it really change anything that much? It seems really mind-boggling that something could change here, especially as BioWare already presented the story in one particular way. Even if this has all happened in this reality without their help, it just seems weird. I suppose it would be nice to try and implement some new and fresh events into the Mass Effect lore, but I would have to make sure that it is for the better.

I mean I'm still not sure that this isn't a dream, and there isn't a way for me to confirm it either. If I pinched myself, that might do the trick, but I don't really want this to end. Putting me back in a dream is just an attempt to depress me, and it is certainly working. Might as well make the most out of this situation and enjoy myself, or at least try to.

My shoulders start moving again slightly more forceful than last time, and I realize that I've probably been sat here for about a minute now with my eyes closed. Didn't mean to ignore the person in front of me, just got a lot on my mind. I open my eyes, and look straight at the person in front of me.

* * *

Oh my god. She was beautiful.

Her hair was long and shiny, groomed and shining, of the most enchanting red possible. She had serene green eyes, and high trimmed eyebrows. Her face was soft with perfectly rounded cheek bones, and a proportionally slim nose. Soft pink lips, and a rounded chin which was complimented by a mesmerizing and seductive smile. The general shape was a toned, hourglass figure which defined her chest and hips which were of moderate proportion.

"Nicole?" I ask quickly, shocked that my voice could even be heard right now. She looks at me with a quizzical expression, raising an eyebrow.

"What? How did you know my name?" she replies, taking her arms off my shoulders allowing me to stretch them properly.

I recognize her voice as Jennifer Hale which I'm glad they didn't change, because I really liked her voice acting in the games. So this has to be Commander Shepard, but her first name is Nicole?

What the fuck. Why does Shepard look exactly like her? This must be some kind of sick joke, because there is no way this is a coincidence. I definitely didn't sign up for this. In fact, I'm sure this is used in some parts of the world as a form of psychological torture. Well I say world, I mean Earth. I need to think of something quick, something believable as to why I knew her name and am now staring at her like a fucking idiot.

"Uh… You just look familiar, that's all" I say, giving a shy smile in attempt to quell her curiosity. This seems to work, as she starts looking me up and down before smiling back at me.

"What's your name?" she says politely, and now I'm starting to wonder what happened to Ashley and Kaidan.

"Jack. Jack Godwin" I respond.

"Well sir-"

"Call me Jack" I state, trying to keep things casual for the time being.

"OK, Jack." she says, now with an even bigger smile on her face. "You are the first survivor we have seen thus far. If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing on this planet?"

I stop what I was doing for a second. Fuck, I didn't think I would have to answer something like this. There is nothing I can think of, even though I do remember reading that Eden Prime was a common place for immigration by the Systems Alliance.

"Uh... I had a friend who was a colonist here. Was just coming to visit him is all." I sigh, thinking about what she just said. "I'm the only one you've seen so far?"

She nods, her face coming back into a neutral expression. "Yes."

"Fuck" I look down and start shaking my head slowly, hoping that Shepard will buy my story about my colonist friend. "I didn't even get a chance to see what happened to him. Don't even remember what happened after I left him."

I feel her strong arm gripping my shoulder again, and look up into her eyes and see her face has turned from a kind expression into a very determined one.

"That's what we're here to find out" she says, trying to consult me into cheering up.

Even though none of what I said is true, I still feel a bit bad for what happened here. Oh well, I should probably try and get Shepard to introduce me to Ashley and Kaidan.

"Hey, I saw you were with some guy before. And I helped a woman in trouble as well, what happened to them?" I said, looking around. I can't see particularly far, so they must still be behind this rock.

"They were talking about what happened here when I left them. Williams told me about someone she had with her, and after seeing you pass out, I wanted to make sure that you were OK."

Wow. Now I'm starting to feel happy, knowing that Commander Shepard cared enough to come over and see how I was doing.

"Thanks, it's nice to know someone cares." I say, giving another quick smile, before realizing what I said. Fuck, I didn't mean it like that. This isn't Nicole, well it's not the one I know, and I should still treat her like Commander Shepard.

She raises an eyebrow again at my comment, before standing up and gesturing at something behind me. It only takes a few moments for Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko to come into my field of vision. Ashley comes up to me first, leading with a friendly smile.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams" she says, extending her hand in another friendly gesture.

"Jack Godwin" I reply, putting my hand forward for a comfortable shake. Her grip is very strong for someone of her size, which puts me off a bit as I don't put much effort in on my side. My hand starts to feel as if it is being crushed, and I instinctively attempt to pull it back. I can't however as her grip is too strong, and end up just pulling her forward slightly.

She lets go of my hand after a second, and looks at me with a strange expression. I can't look at her after that, and instead shift my gaze over to Kaidan. However, Shepard and Kaidan are both looking at me strangely as well.

I didn't mean to do that, it was just too strong for me. Wasn't expected, not my fault. And they all noticed that I pulled out early, which probably made me look like I'm weak. Either that or I've got some sort of problem with my hand.

"Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko" the marine states, also extending his hand to me. I'm not really sure whether to make the same gesture now, after what just happened. Suppose I have to, it would just look weird otherwise.

I nod my head and extend my hand, not needing to say my name again as I said it before. This time, I make sure my grip is stronger. Not so much to seem as if I'm trying, but just enough to make it seem as if the handshake from before was a fluke.

"And I'm Commander Shepard, at your service" she says, extending her hand with a light smile on her face. I hope this is the last time I have to shake someone's hand today; it's starting to get a bit annoying.

I hesitate for a second, and then stick my hand forward, hoping to look as strong as possible. If you can believe it, the Commander's grip was even stronger than the Gunnery Chief's, which I think is pretty amazing. However, it doesn't hurt as much which makes me think that Ashley was deliberately trying to break my hand. I hold on for slightly longer than Shepard did, and let go not thinking about it properly.

"Well, now that we've been introduced, we should move on. You should probably try and find another way off this planet." Shepard says, before gesturing to Ashley and Kaidan to come with her. They all turn away; ready to move away after the Prothean beacon, before it dawns on me.

Oh, I need to come with them. If I have any chance of surviving in this universe, I need to stay aboard the Normandy. Even if I didn't want to help them stop Saren, I have no idea how to get off this planet. Staying by myself on a geth-infested planet is a sure-fire way to get killed, and I don't fancy that.

"Shepard, wait!" I say quickly, picking up my rifle and taking a step towards the crew. She stops and looks back at me curiously, I assume wondering what else I need.

"What is it Jack?"

"Do you think…? I could come with you? Maybe?" I ask, not sure how best to go about asking that question.

"Why? It would be very dangerous coming with us; don't you think it would be better just hiding for the time being?"

"To be honest, there isn't anywhere to hide. Not many hiding places, only a few rocks… Look, staying with you guys for now I think is safer than anywhere on this planet. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my friend, and I know that this is going to be dangerous. But I need to do something to get revenge on those metal fucks, and I am prepared for dangerous situations. If you will give me the chance, I can prove myself useful to your needs. "

"Commander, if I may, I think that we should bring him along. He did help me out, and he was a decent shot. We don't really know what's happened here, and we can use all the help possible." Ashley says, looking at Shepard, trying to prove my worth.

That's awesome! I didn't really help her that much, she killed one of those drones as well, but I'm glad she mentioned it. Seems this Ashley is a bit friendlier than the one I remember, and hopefully what she just said will convince Shepard to bring me along.

Shepard looks at Ashley for a second, almost as if she is gauging whether the Gunnery Chief was telling the truth. After a moment, she turns back to me and smiles, also gesturing forward towards me.

"OK, you can come along with us." YES! "But stay at the back of the group, I haven't seen how well you handle yourself yet." Shepard says, turning around again and moving in a certain direction, which I assume Ashley told her as being the location of the beacon.

* * *

As Shepard takes the front alongside Kaidan, we all start to move slowly towards the beacon, wary of any geth that may be incoming. Just as I'm starting to feel comfortable, a voice disturbs me.

"So, what happened?" a feminine voice says, and I look around to see Ashley facing the opposite way, but taking the same stance as me.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that mate" I said, wondering what she meant. Today, there have been quite a few things that happened that merit talking about.

"Why did you pass out? I didn't put you down as the nervous type"

"Well, that wasn't what I normally do. Got banged up a bit, hit my head on the floor by accident. After that, this pain just keeps coming back. That wasn't the first time either, and I doubt it will be the last." I say, still looking around for any stray geth.

Not seeing any so far. We're just passed through another camp, occupied by more human colonists. I assume they were, because it is their dead bodies lying on the floor. All of them have bullet holes ridden in them, which is sort of worrying too me. Not too much, because I know we have the best team in the galaxy. Fighting some geth shouldn't be so hard.

"But that handshake from before, that was strange"

"Why?"

"I've never met a man with a weaker grip than me, and considering how long I have spent in the Alliance, it's just surprising." she says, and I can pretty much hear the smirk on her face. I sigh, trying to keep myself together.

"Sorry, the news of my friend's death shook me a bit." I said, throwing in as much sarcasm as possible, but I guess I forgot to mention it to her.

"I'm sorry… I- I didn't realize" her voice has started to take on a gentler tone, and I guess now is as good a time as any to bring up what happened to Ashley's squad.

"So what happened to you?" I ask, flipping the question back at her. "How did you meet Nicole?"

I look back at Ashley, and see she is now looking at me with that strange expression again.

"Nicole? Who are you talking about?"

Oh fuck, I really need to get this right. Can't go around calling Shepard that, even if it is her first name (fucking coincidence).

"I mean Shepard" I state quickly, trying to make her move past what I just said and focus on the question.

"Well, my unit, the 212, were assigned to protect the dig site, after it was discovered as harbouring a Prothean beacon. And… we were attacked by an army of geth. I was lucky enough to fight them off and escape, but nobody else was." Her voice is flat and emotionless, so it seems she doesn't want to talk about this with me yet.

"I wouldn't blame yourself. Something like that isn't your fault, no matter what you think" I say, trying to console her. Ashley looks at me for a second, before turning back in the opposite direction.

"Anyway, you ran into me when I was outrunning those geth drones. After we killed them, you tried to help that guy. He couldn't be saved, and that is why I had to stop you."

"What do you mean, he couldn't be saved? It was two versus two, and it would be even better odds with Shepard turning up." I don't care what she thinks, she is wrong about this. Leaving anyone is unacceptable, especially civilians.

"You can't afford to take risks like that, even if you think it is a fair fight. If I had known Shepard and the Lieutenant were close enough to help us, the situation would have been handled differently. But it wasn't. Get over it." She says, her voice raising slightly, and becoming colder.

"He could have been saved. It wasn't a risk."

I look over at Ashley again, and she hasn't responded or given any indication that she heard me. I smile, knowing that I was right.

**A/N: Very sorry about this update, took a hell of a lot longer than I wanted to. I was pretty sick the last few days, Tues-Sat, leaving me not much time to write. Still intend to keep to updating every few days, as long as the circumstances are right.**

**So, I intended to finish Eden Prime this chapter, but I had a little bit too much to write. I could have just kept it into one chapter, but I just prefer it better to space out the chapters in stories. I've never appreciated having too much read on one chapter, when you can simply find a sensible space to end it and continue it onto another.**

**Also, I do intend to explain who this 'Nicole' is, but it will be after Eden Prime is finished, so only a few chapters away.**

**Thank for the reviews so far, and I always appreciate constructive feedback.**

**Cheers ;)**


	3. This Isn't Good

We didn't talk much after that.

Didn't have to, shooting the geth sort of took out the awkward silence. Forgot about these random geth troopers, and this isn't the end of them yet.

It only took us a few minutes for us to reach the outside of the dig site, and then we encountered them. Man, I forgot how many fucking chest-high walls is in this game… world. I guess I figured they could be like moved or changed a bit, it doesn't make any sense why there are like rows of them. It would have to be a very specific explosion to make walls like this, and somehow I don't think colonists would do something like this in the off chance they have to be in a fire fight.

Anyway, I didn't have much more time to dwell on this. A close encounter with a speeding bullet that was just centimetres away from hitting my head got my attention.

I cringed slightly at hearing the sound of it so close to me, and ducked down, thinking that now would be a good time to find some cover. Unfortunately, the back line of walls was being occupied right now, so I guess it was every man/woman for themselves in these situations. I had to look around quickly to find one that was vacant and wouldn't get me killed. The only practical way I could see of 2 people using one wall was to one have crouch down in front of the other, and the other person would probably have to stay flat against the wall. Which, now that I'm thinking about it, isn't very practical. It would be very awkward in fact.

The nearest safe one to me was in the second row, which was dangerously close to the advancing line of geth troopers. They didn't seem particularly smart in this case, as they weren't using cover to protect themselves, but instead were focused much more on stopping us from reaching the actual dig site. I had to make a split decision of choosing whether to run over and potentially get myself killed, or become a little friendlier with Kaidan than I would like.

And I can't believe I had to think about that.

My feet started moving faster than I expected, and I had to duck and dodge quickly in order to avoid enemy fire. It seems strange that I'm still worried about getting shot, but I just can't shake the feeling of getting killed by one shot, like in real life. The real life I had before I got transported to the Exodus Cluster I mean. Luckily, only one shot manages to touch me, but it did a number on my shields.

Slamming my back into the rock hurt me a lot more than I thought it would, but I couldn't slow myself to brace for impact in the off chance I got shot again. I hope I don't have to run like this to cover every fight, because just doing it once has worn me out a bit. Marcus Fenix may be able to throw himself against cover like clockwork, but then again I'm not a fat-necked gorilla wearing a fridge with armholes.

I listen to the sound of gun fire coming from both sides of the fight, before realizing I should probably try and help out. Peeking around the corner only grants me a few seconds of vision, before I have to hide again. From where I am, I can only see Shepard poking her head out from cover taking shots at the enemy, which means that Ashley and Kaidan must be resting for a second. I'm really starting to miss that radar, because I wasn't keeping track of who was winning this fight.

I decide to try and lean out again, forcing my rifle sight's directly in front of my eyes. Only two more geth are visible, and they have both moved over to the right of the battlefield, moving in front of Ashley and Kaidan's cover.

My heart rate starts to race, and my finger is twitching next to the trigger, indicating that my body would preferably want to help them. I don't even try to shoot accurately, instead just aiming in their general direction hoping to distract them. This time, the recoil isn't even a problem and the bullets start pounding against the AI's shields.

It doesn't take long for my rifle to overheat, which I can tell by the funny noise it starts making and an indicator which helpfully pops up on the side of it. I look down to read it, before thinking that now wouldn't be the best time. Shit, I took my eyes off the action, I thought. That was really stupid.

I glance back up again, and my eyes widen instinctively. The two geth have turned their attention onto me. Hmm... I should have thought this through better. Just as their bullets start to fly towards me, I duck back into cover. One of their shots hits my rifle and throws it forward, flying a few metres in front of me. Relieved that nothing worse happened there, a searing pain rushes up my arm as if to purposefully nullify that point. Looking down, I notice my right hand suddenly has a small bullet-sized hole in it.

Fuck. The bullet went directly through the middle of my index finger, leaving me speechless for a couple of seconds. Blood starts to drip out of it, and I feel the pain starting to disappear. My finger starts to flex, and it only bends halfway before the pain starts to flare up again. I don't even think I did that, maybe subconsciously to check that it was OK. Well, this definitely isn't going to be my only injury if I can get to serve with Shepard, so I better get used to it now.

I use my other hand to lean forward and pick up the rifle, bringing it back with me to cover.

"Hey, if I could get some fucking help here, it would be great!" I yell, sitting back on the ground again. I look over at the rest of the team, and see that they seem to have heard me.

Kaidan starts to glow vigorously, showing off his biotic powers, lifting up one of the geth into the air and giving ample time for Ashley to double tap the problem in the head. It drops to the ground again; the biotic energy controlling it has now faded away.

I would call that a wombo-combo, but to be honest I think it is much better than that.

Now, the other trooper has focused back onto the two marines, forcing them back into cover. I see Shepard suddenly spring out of cover, the pistol that was attached to her side is now grasped firmly in her two hands. It only takes a second for her to line up the shot correctly, and the sound echoes throughout the area. The bullet went straight through the geth's head, right where the light is. It drops the gun that was being held, and drops face first onto the ground, not moving any more.

My chest expands, while oxygen starts coming back in to my body. I didn't even know that I was holding my breath, so it must have been just watching Shepard kill that geth perfectly.

"That was pretty hot" I remark without thinking, looking towards Shepard. Oh shit, I shouldn't have said that.

She turns toward me, with a smirk on her face, before looking at the dig site.

"Thanks. We still need to get that beacon and stop Saren, so we shouldn't be delaying." She says, gesturing towards us to follow her.

We start following her through the maze of chest high walls, and thankfully there doesn't seem to be any more geth.

Thank god she didn't take what I meant literally, I don't want her to think I'm a creep. Which I'm not by the way, in case you were wondering. I think it's going to take some time to get over this, but if I'm to stay on the Normandy, it better be fast because I don't really want any more awkward moments.

It doesn't take us that long to reach the dig site.

"This is the dig site, the beacon was right here. Must have been moved." Ashley says, looking towards Shepard.

"By who, our side or the geth?" Kaidan raises an eyebrow, thinking for a second.

"Hard to say, maybe we'll know when we get to the research camp."

"Do you think anyone got out of here alive?" Shepard asks.

"Nope"

Everyone turns to look at me, and I just shrug my shoulders.

"What, you know, no use being optimistic. When I was at the camp before, I didn't see anyone." I start looking around, trying to avoid their eyes.

"If they were lucky. Maybe… hiding up in the camp. It's just at the top of this ridge, up the ramps."

Shepard nods her affirmation, and we all turn to move on up to the camp. If I remember correctly, and at this point anything else I remember about my old life is pretty much pointless, this is where we meet the first few husks.

I hope I didn't just fuck up by adding that part about being at the research camp. If anyone is still alive there, and Shepard talks to them about what happened, nobody will mention anything about me. I remember there being the Dragon's Teeth with husks still attached to them, having to fight the husks, and that's it for this area. An empty building, and then another one I couldn't be bothered to try and open. What was that decryption shit anyway, I didn't realise playing a game of Frogger was how people undid locks in the future.

So it seems safe for now at least.

"Careful everyone, this looks like a good spot for an ambush" I'm not sure I agree with that Kaidan, don't think a small hill is a good spot for an ambush.

As I'm thinking this, we all reach the top of the ridge, and look ahead into the research camp. There were three husks stuck on these Dragon's Teeth, which were currently coming back down to the ground. The dark environment enhances the bright blue lights coming out of their bodies, and as the first one reaches the floor, it steps off. A slight stagger in its movement seems to show that it hasn't completely adapted to the changes in its body, as it looks around as if waiting for its friends. I won't lie, it looks pretty fucking creepy.

"What the fuck"

"Oh my god, what the hell is that thing?"

I look around to Ashley when she talks at the same time as me, both of us pretty disturbed by what we're seeing.

"Don't just stand there, do something!" Shepard shouts, starting to fire towards the husks. I turn to look around at the rest of the group, and see that they have all began to fire at the abominations as well. That would be a good idea, I thought, as I start to get in on the action.

* * *

You know, this is only my, what, third fight so far? And already I'm starting to get a bit bored of it. Even when I _was _Shepard (when I played the game), the only way I thought it could be better was if I was really here. Now I am here. And it really isn't better in any way. These aren't exactly challenging encounters, and I know these are the easiest we're going to get. So hopefully things will pick up once we fight some difficult enemies, but I don't want it to be so bad that I'm worried about getting killed.

We all group up again, at the center of the research camp. I turn my head towards Shepard, wondering what we are going to do next. She is looking thoughtfully at the buildings that are standing adjacent to us.

"Can you check that building, Lieutenant?" Shepard nods towards it.

"Yes, Commander" he replies and strides forwards, bringing his omnitool up. Kaidan stops as he reaches it and turns around. "It's locked."

Shepard raises an eyebrow at this, and I let out a small laugh. "Well, maybe you should unlock it then".

He has a strange expression on his face at this, as if he thinks we're not taking this seriously. Kaidan gets to work on the lock, and it only takes him a couple of seconds with his tech abilities. When he's done, he stands back and gestures us to come forward.

Shepard is the first one in, and it doesn't take long for her to start talking to whoever is inside. Once I get in, I can see she is talking to another few colonists.

"Quick, close the door before they come back". The man on the right says, his voice low and hoarse. Kaidan is the first one to respond to that, and he closes the door behind us.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you" Shepard seems to be trying to calm the two of them down.

"Thank you, I think we'll be okay now." The woman replies, nodding. "It looks like everyone has gone."

"You're Doctor Warren, head of the archaeological team here; do you know what happened to the beacon?" Ashley asks, sounding impatient.

"It was moved to the spaceport this morning, Manuel and I stayed behind to pack up the camp." Doctor Warren starts looking anxious at this point, holding her hands together and looking down at the ground. "When the geth attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives so we could be saved-"

"No one is saved; the age of humanity is ended. Only ruin and corpses will remain." The crazy guy interjects, his voice still as weird as before.

"Great, one of these conspiracy theorists" I mumble, looking away. The doctor looks at me, her eyes narrowed in anger. She is about to respond to that, but stops when she hears Shepard talk again.

"You didn't see the geth attack when you were here this morning, Jack?" I look around at Shepard, who is looking at me with a quizzical expression on her face.

"Uh… no, no I didn't. As I said, I left before the attack started." I respond, trying to avoid giving too much information.

"Wait, you were here this morning?" Doctor Warren asks, looking towards me with her eyes still narrowed.

"Yeah" I shrug, trying to make it seem as if it was just a normal thing.

"What were you doing here?"

"I was just, you know, here to visit somebody."

"That's impossible. The transportation of the beacon was scheduled for this morning; anybody who was not part of the archaeological team weren't allowed to be here."

Fuck. I didn't expect this. I thought I would be given time to think of a more believable backstory, and just make out like the one I told seemed better. Something like that at least, so it would seem like I'm not a complete asshole.

I didn't even notice my mouth hanging open, or my body starting to shake. Everyone was looking at me, probably hoping for an explanation. But I couldn't give one. I couldn't look at anyone but Shepard. Her face hasn't changed, but looking into her eyes for even a few seconds hurts me. She seems disappointed, because I probably seemed like some guy who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, I know I'm not an evil or violent person, but they don't know that. I could even be working with Saren to them.

"Alright, Williams, take us to the spaceport." She says, looking away now, because she doesn't to look at me anymore.

"You can't stop it!" the crazy man says again, his voice now sounding more urgent and high-pitched. "Nobody can stop it! Night is falling, the darkness of eternity!"

"Don't worry Manuel; you will feel better when the medication kicks in" the doctor replies, trying to calm him down again.

Shepard thanks her, and we all traipse outside again. I sigh, a little louder than I wanted, but I didn't care. She looks at me again, disappointment gone, and replaced with sheer determination.

"We're going to talk about what just happened when this is over"

The way she says this tells me that it is not up for discussion. I just hope that I can come up with something fast.

**A/N: Remember when I said that Eden Prime would be finished this chapter? Yeah... forget I said that. Instead, it will be finished next chapter, and it WILL be finished next chapter so don't worry about that. This was quite a short chapter for me, but I didn't want to put in the beacon just yet.  
**

**Updating every weekend will probably be the standard now, as it is the most time I get to write, and when I mostly use my computer as well. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!**


	4. Don't Fuck Up Canon, I Swear To God

Just as we're about to take off again, a terrifying sound cracks the air, and I know it can only be one thing. Everyone looks up in time to see Sovereign taking off into the atmosphere, the lightning near the bottom of the ship crackling furiously, and smoke attempting to cover up how big it is. And trust me, it is fucking massive.

"Wow… Sovereign looks amazing" I say quietly, but not quiet enough it seems. Looking around to see the others reaction, I notice Shepard staring at me curiously.

"What did you call it?" she says, raising her eyebrows.

Oh fuck. I really shouldn't have said that. If they find out I know anything about that ship, I'm a goner. Maybe… maybe I can bullshit my way out of this sticky situation.

"Uh… I didn't call it anything. I just said, said that ship looks amazing. Because you know, it was big. Very big, to be honest. Never seen a ship like it before." I say, shrugging my shoulders

Wow, that was so unconvincing. I don't understand how every time I'm caught in a lie, my voice and manner turns into a David Brent impression. I've spent way too much of my time watching TV and now it's coming back to bite me in the ass. Even I know it makes me look guilty, but you know, it just happens… naturally. Nothing I can do. Try as hard as I might.

And there it is again. Not even saying anything and it comes out. Almost as if it is ingrained into my mind, all those pauses and extended pronunciations of letters for no apparent reason.

Apparently Shepard thought it wasn't convincing either, as she continues to stare at me for a few seconds, prompting me to smile nervously at the situation. We can't discuss what happened before now can we? I hope that's not what she is thinking, because we still need to find that beacon, and I don't think I would be comfortable explaining my predicament here.

"Come on. We still need to find the beacon." Shepard turns back around towards the spaceport, and the rest of the group start to follow her.

I stand still for a second, which my body doesn't seem to agree with. It's understandable after everything that has happened today, with all these exciting gun battles, but I need to think.

That was way too close for comfort. If Shepard wanted to chew me out, she easily could of. She and I both know that was complete bullshit, and now I'm wondering if she wants to do it in front of everyone. Maybe she wants to give me a chance to explain myself. She barely even knows me, but I know her. At least I think I know her, this Commander Shepard is pretty much the same as the one I used in the trilogy. The one I know would be kind and helpful to anyone she meets, but also wary and careful about any potential dangers. And I know at this point in time they don't really know what I am, even though I'm just some bloke from probably the shittiest place in London. I don't like putting it down or anything, it's just-

"Jack?"

Oh, whoops, lost track of time for a minute. I glance up in time to see Ashley looking back at me in the distance, an annoyed look clear on her face even from where I am.

"Yeah, I'm coming." I hurriedly start walking towards her, before she has a chance to start complaining about me.

The whole thing is a bit confusing. What about my knowledge of this universe? If I'm going to stay on the Normandy, I'm going to have to pretend to be clueless about anything that happens to the crew from here on out. That should be pretty easy for a little while, because I only got up to Therum. Not sure if that is a good thing, as being unaware about what is going to happen to us doesn't seem like a good way to be useful in this universe.

Staying on the ship and making it to the events of the second and third game is going to be tricky, if not impossible. Especially since I'm so unprepared, it was really a dick move on the Mass Effect universe's part. If they had just told me I was going to be sent 170 years into the future, I would have gone to the gym or something, started doing some cardio. I mean, knowing the ending isn't going to help me, because if we didn't defeat Saren here, then there wouldn't even be a second and third game would there?

I mean, the events in the future aren't subject to change are they? I hope not, because if that is true, then that means I could fuck everything up. Hopefully not, but just thinking about all possibilities. If that did happen, then I really wouldn't know what to do. Could go back to Earth I guess, can't really imagine it as being too different. It would be interesting to go back to where I lived, and see what my house is li-

"Are you okay? You look troubled" Ashley's voice interrupts my thoughts again, and I sigh out of irritation.

"I'm fine, alright? No need to worry about me" I catch up to her, and stand there for a second looking at her. She sighs as well, raising an eyebrow at my words.

"I wasn't worried about you. I was perfectly happy with just letting you catch up to us, but Shepard wanted me to come back for you. Wanted to see how you were doing."

Of course it was Shepard. She was perfectly happy to not bring me along before, but now she wants to make sure I stay with the group.

"Shepard, huh? Figures"

"What's wrong with Shepard?"

"There's nothing wrong with the commander." I turn and start to walk after the other two marines. "Come on, we need to get to the beacon soon, wasted enough time as it is". I hear Ashley's footsteps behind me.

"You don't seem alright. If I'm honest, you still seem to be affected by that incident from before" She doesn't seem to want to give this up so easily, which is annoying me right now.

"Maybe I'm not alright, fine. How about this then?" I say, pausing again to look at Ashley one last time. "I'm fucking fantastic. You know what; I'm having a whale of a time. This would have probably been in the running for best day of the year so far, if it wasn't for the slight problem of having an army of geth trying to kill us."

Ashley stares at me now, an expression of pure bewilderment on her face.

"No need to get upset with me Jack. I was just asking a question. If I had known you were going to blow up like that, I would have kept quiet."

To be honest, I don't even know why I'm feeling so angry right now. This has been my best day of the year so far, if I could even say 'the year'. Because it isn't really. Well, I suppose it is, technically, since this is the year 2183. And the last day of my life was back in 2013. So yeah, I guess it is.

"I know, it's just… a lot has happened today, you know, so maybe I might be overreacting to things." I say, looking away towards the sky. The surprising redness of it still seems foreign to my eyes, causing me to squint slightly.

"I'm certainly not used to any of this: shooting a gun, fighting hostile AI or being with Commander Shepard."

"You shouldn't be worried about that. Not many people can do the job you're doing now, and you're only a civilian anyw-"

She stops for a second, looking down at my right hand, before flitting her eyes back up to my face. "What happened to your hand?"

Ah, yes. I forgot about this, guess I was too busy focusing on other things. The pain wore off after a while anyway, so it didn't even bother me after I noticed it for the first time.

"Just a bullet, got me by accident. From the fight we had before we got to the dig site" I say, just trying to play it off as if it was nothing.

While I was talking however, Ashley had moved over to me and took hold of my arm, fiddling with something on her Omni tool. It only takes a second, and she holds it over my hand, like one of those supermarket checkout employees scanning one of your food items. I was just about to complain about her sudden proximity to me, but I get cut off by a cooling feeling spreading over my index finger. Instead, I just close my eyes and enjoy the sensation, feeling glad at whatever the hell she just did.

"You feel better now?" she says, her voice sounds as if she is talking to a little kid who just got what he really wanted.

I open my eyes, and am tempted to not even respond to that. Unfortunately, I can't help but feel the need to thank her for doing that.

"I said before I felt fantastic, you thought I was joking?" I nod my head towards my hand, upon which Ashley is still holding onto. "You can let go any time, just so you know."

She drops my hand almost instantly, and steps back to her original position. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Thank you. I completely forgot about the medi-gel, even though it is standard on all military personnel." I smile at her, and her cheeks turn a slight shade of crimson. "To go back to what you were saying before, it's not even that. Using a gun is something I can handle, fighting a bunch of geth isn't that difficult with having you guys around to do all the work. Shepard though... she really is something else." I sigh yet again, looking at the ground.

It's quite pathetic how much I miss Nicole already. I already knew she was the only thing that made my old life worth living, and I don't know how I coped until she found me. But, if I'm to stay here, I guess she is just one of many things to be forgotten about. How am I going to do that with Shepard around though?

"The Commander huh… is that why you've been acting so awkwardly around her?" Ashley says.

I glance back at her, and notice the smirk playing on her lips. Well, I'm glad this is amusing to _somebody_.

"Hey, don't mug me off alright? Just doing my bloody best here." I stifle a laugh, and rub my face for a second, not realizing how much I had been sweating up till now. "Anyway, we really should get back to the other two. Shepard is probably going mental waiting as we speak."

* * *

Do you remember when I said before about all these gunfights starting to be a bit boring? I was wrong. Once your mind set just starts to forgot about all the terrifying stuff, like you being stuck in a new universe all by yourself with nobody to help you out, your family and everyone you ever loved gone forever, and pretty much being forced to help out a commander trying to track down one of the most famous Spectres who has become indoctrinated by the Reapers … it becomes alright. I mean, when you get past those sorts of thoughts. As I said before, there really isn't any chance of me dying in these fights. Whenever I get pinned down by fire, I can just wait for my teammates to help me out. My shooting is starting to improve too, when I am given the chance to actually aim at my targets. I would call it a learning experience, but I can almost guarantee it's going to be a bit more than an 'experience'.

We eventually made it to the platform where Nihlus' body lies. Shepard and the others go over to him, trying to examine his body I guess. Instead, I just try to have a look around the area. There are only a few crates near the platform, large enough to cover anything that may be hiding behind them.

I draw my gun and stalk over to them, leaning against the front of the one on the right. Taking a breath, I swing my rifle round the corner and stop. There is a man cowering in the corner, his arms wrapped tightly around his sides. He is staring at me with fear in his eyes, and he seems to be shaking quite badly.

"Shepard" I call out, assuming that she will come quickly. I am correct in assuming this, as she arrives with the rest of the team, their weapons also drawn. Her eyes glance over the man, and she stops in front of us. The man seems to have shaken out of his stupor, as he starts to talk as soon as Shepard arrives.

"I'm sorry, I was hiding from those creatures." He says, standing up to acknowledge us. "My name is Powell. I saw what happened to that turian, the other one shot him."

"I need to know how Nihlus died."

"Uh… the other one got here first, he was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think, I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax. Saren killed him, shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me hiding behind the crates."

"We were told a Prothean beacon was taken to the spaceport, what happened to it?" Shepard asks, putting away her weapon. I follow suit, but the others still seem a bit wary about this guy.

"It is over on the other platform, probably where that guy Saren was headed. He hopped on the cargo train after he killed your friend. I knew that beacon was trouble… everything went to hell when we found it. First that damn mother ship turned up, then the attack. They killed everyone, everyone. If I wasn't behind the crates, they would have killed-"

"Wait a minute, what were you doing behind the crates? Why didn't the geth see you?" Kaidan interjects, curious about what this guy was doing.

"They… never had a chance. I was already behind the crates when the geth attacked. Sometimes, I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates, to grab forty watts where the supervisor can't find me." He confesses, clasping his hands together, in an attempt to look ashamed at what he did.

"Wow." I state, just amazed. That is so… wow.

"You survived because you're lazy?" Ashley asks, her voice raised, anger clear in every syllable of her words.

"Lucky fucker. Good marines died to save your fucking ass, and to repay them, you decided to have a nap." I don't even know what to say anymore. I do slightly feel bad for him, because it isn't really his fault. There wasn't anything he could have done to help them, and trying to help would have just got him killed too.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? I don't have any weapons or anything, and this way those guys died saving at least one person rather than no one." He points out, reflecting what I was just thinking.

"You better do something useful with your life mate, because I'm tempted to punch your face in right now."

"Thank you." Shepard says, looking at me, trying to get me to shut up. She turns back towards Powell. "We should go, and I suggest you stick to hiding from here on out."

The team turn around, and I lead us over to the tram that will lead us to where the beacon is. Shepard stands at the front of the ride, and presses the button to start it. I decide to just stand at the back and just close my eyes, hoping to enjoy the ride. Even though it probably won't be a long ride.

I feel the tram stop suddenly, and I open my eyes to see that we have reached the place almost instantly. For fuck sake, I was just starting to enjoy myself.

We stop off, and see the first bomb. Apparently nobody expected something like this, because there is a vapid silence in the air.

"So, who's going to defuse that?" I ask, looking around the group. I mean, it definitely can't be me, not even being able to open a fucking door.

"I'll do it." Shepard steps forward, and crouches down in front of the device.

"Are you sure you're up to it? I mean, that is a pretty big bomb." She looks back at me, a smirk on her face. "Not trying to put you off or anything, just keeping it real for you."

It takes only a few moments for her to finish her tech work, and she stands up. Turning back to us, she looks at each of us individually before she speaks.

"Well, let's not stand around shall we?"

I can't help but admire the commander, when her eyes lock onto mine. She is so sexy when is giving orders, but I can't let that show. That would be going the right way to get a punch in the face.

"I could stand around, to be honest, but I don't know if you guys would be OK with that." I say, laughing slightly. They definitely wouldn't be OK with that, but that can't stop a guy from dreaming.

Maybe when we actually get round to fighting some other races, turians or vorcha, will the gun battles be really exciting. That only took us roughly five minutes to crush all of the remaining geth and for Shepard to detonate the last few bombs. You can really start to notice that I'm not making a difference yet, because that handles as smoothly as in the games, when I wasn't even here. Hopefully, that will change, because I don't think just being here is good enough for me.

I am the last one to reach the beacon, as I was stupid enough to try and look around for any weapons and ammo. Never thought there wouldn't be any random collectible things for me to pick up here, because it doesn't really make any sense when you think about it. Being here should warrant me able to pick up better weapons.

Shepard and Kaidan are busy talking a fair few feet away, getting the Normandy to come around and pick us up. Ashley is just staring intensely at the beacon, which looks much more impressive in person. Crackling energy surrounds it, and the design of it really is unique. More advanced races have better designs I guess, watching her for a second. She starts to step towards it slowly, but her steps seeming forced, almost as if she doesn't want to be moving at all.

That's weird, I think, tilting my head to the side and wondering what the hell is going on. Then it dawns on me. Oh fuck, why is this happening to her? It isn't supposed to be this way.

Should I leave her? Help her? I can't just leave her like this, but helping her would make things much worse. The decision weighs on my mind for a second, and then I remember Ashley helping me before. I suppose doing this will even it up in a way.

That wasn't what I was thinking to rationalize this decision, but it was a good thought. I rush forward, stumbling slightly in my haste. Grabbing Ashley around the waist, I throw her over my shoulder, slightly harder than intended. I only have a second to regret what I just did before I get lifted up into the air.

If I forgot what happened to Shepard in the games, I am given a very clear reminder so I don't forget. My world shuts down, no sound, no vision, nothing. I wonder what is about to happen, when I hear an echo from inside my mind. It becomes louder and louder, pain spreading throughout my body until I can't bear it anymore. As soon as I try to let go of this sound, the vision suddenly appears, clear as day in my head.

The death of thousands, organics dying. Synthetics brutal in their endless rampage.

The vision and the echo together have overwhelmed my body, and I can feel myself shutting down. The echo dies with one last _whomp, _and the vision ends with one last fatal _scream_.

I don't even have to look at the ground to know that I am falling. The pain has completely destroyed my body, and I am only able to think one last thought before I pass out.

Well fuck, this wasn't supposed to happen.

**A/N: Not much to write here really. :o**


End file.
